Co-Authors: Xiaonan Kou, Elana Lewis, Robert Cook
The University of Southern Mississippi

Polyhedral oligomeric silisesquioxane (POSS) nanostructured chemicals, consisting of an inorganic cage structure with an organic corona, provide a unique opportunity to control nanoscale dispersion by tuning the organic substituents to allow interaction with specific substrates. The structure can also be tailored to provide preferential surface segregation in a polymer melt to achieve desired  modification of surface properties. POSS has been shown to provide improved dispersion of nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes, nanoclays and nanoscale metal oxide particles, in polymer systems, with resultant improvement in properties. Enhancements in surface properties produced by POSS incorporation in polymer melts and films will be reviewed. The estimation of POSS solubility in polymer matrices through calculated solubility parameters and molecular dynamic simulations will be discussed in relation to experimental results.
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